Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines

Allan Brito

eBook: $26.99
Formats: PDF, PacktLib, ePub and Mobi formats
$22.94 save 15%!
Print book: $44.99
$40.49 save 10%!
Print + eBook bundle: $71.98
Includes free access to the book on PacktLib
$44.54 save 38%!
Free Shipping! UK, US, Europe and selected countries in Asia.
This book can also be purchased from:
Overview
Table of Contents
The Author
Reviews
Downloads
  • Walk through the complete process of building amazing machines
  • Model and create mechanical models and vehicles with detailed designs
  • Add advanced global illumination options to the renders created in Blender 3D using YafaRay and LuxRender
  • Create machines such as a handgun, a steam punk spacecraft, and a transforming robot

Book Details

Language : English
Paperback : 316 pages [ 235mm x 191mm ]
Release Date : November 2009
ISBN : 1847197469
ISBN 13 : 978-1-847197-46-7
Author(s) : Allan Brito
Topics and Technologies : All Books, Blender, Open Source, Web Graphics & Video


Table of Contents

Preface
Chapter 1: Machinery Modeling and Visualization with Blender
Chapter 2: Modeling a Handgun
Chapter 3: Polygon Modeling of the Weapon
Chapter 4: Adding Details
Chapter 5: Rendering the Project with YafaRay
Chapter 6: Steampunk Spacecraft
Chapter 7: Working with Smaller Areas
Chapter 8: Advanced UV Mapping
Chapter 9: Putting the Spacecraft to Fly and Shoot with Special Effects
Chapter 10: Rendering the Spacecraft with YafaRay
Chapter 11: Transforming Robot
Chapter 12: Using Modifiers and Curves to Create Details for the Robot and Scene
Chapter 13: Making the Robot Look Metallic with Materials in LuxRender
Chapter 14: Adding Lights to the Scene and Rendering with LuxRender
Chapter 15: It's Alive! Animating the Robot
Chapter 16: Post Production of the Robot
Index
  • Chapter 2: Modeling a Handgun
    • Briefing and concept
      • Objectives
      • Why a hand weapon?
      • Parts of the model
    • Modeling workflow
    • Best modeling technique for this project
    • Effects and rendering
    • Summary
  • Chapter 3: Polygon Modeling of the Weapon
    • Starting with a background image
    • Using subdivision to model
      • Modeling the hand wrap
      • Modeling the small and removable parts
        • Using hooks to place and align objects
    • Summary
  • Chapter 4: Adding Details
    • Tools and techniques for detailing
    • Face normals
      • Adding the handgrip
      • Using the spin tool to close a model
      • Adding creases and rounded details
    • Summary
  • Chapter 5: Rendering the Project with YafaRay
    • YafaRay renderer
      • Installing YafaRay
    • Creating a studio environment
    • Adding light to the scene
    • How YafaRay works
    • Setting lights in YafaRay
    • Adding materials to the weapon
    • Framing the weapon
    • Final render with YafaRay
    • Summary
  • Chapter 6: Steampunk Spacecraft
    • Steampunk concept
    • Spacecraft concept
    • Project workflow
    • Building edges and planes for the spacecraft
      • Creating the first section of the spacecraft
    • Modeling the wing
    • Modeling the front
    • Summary
  • Chapter 7: Working with Smaller Areas
    • Modeling the front of the spacecraft
    • Adding details to the wing
      • Modeling the engines
    • Creating the bottom of the spacecraft
    • Creating the weapons
    • Mirroring the spacecraft
    • Closing the cockpit
    • Detailing the fuselage
      • Modeling auxiliary engines
    • Adding cables and wires
      • Using curves
        • Twisting the cables
      • Adding the cables to the model
    • Summary
  • Chapter 8: Advanced UV Mapping
    • UV mapping in Blender
      • What is UV mapping?
      • Using UV mapping in Blender
    • Using smart projections
    • UV test grid
    • Using the unwrap tool
      • Planning the unwrap
    • Controlling and editing the UV layout
      • Pinning and unpinning vertices
      • Live Unwrap Transform
    • Editing the UV
    • Exporting the layout
    • Editing the texture
    • Summary
  • Chapter 10: Rendering the Spacecraft with YafaRay
    • Environment setup in YafaRay—creating a physical sky
      • Single Color
      • Gradient
      • Texture
      • SunSky
      • DarkTide's SunSky
    • Materials and textures in YafaRay
      • Setting up a metal material
      • Creating the glass in the cockpit
    • Rendering the scene
      • Rendering a night view of the spacecraft
    • Summary
  • Chapter 11: Transforming Robot
    • What is a transforming robot?
      • How big will the robot be?
      • Textures and materials
    • Rendering with LuxRender
    • Mixing modeling and animation
    • Modeling the object with poly modeling
    • Choosing a modeling technique
      • Modeling the legs
    • Modeling the main body
    • Modeling the head
    • Modeling the arms
    • Summary
  • Chapter 15: It's Alive! Animating the Robot
    • Animation controls and hierarchies
      • Removing the hierarchy
    • Joints and pivots
      • Using empties as helper objects
      • Pivots without empties
    • Posing the robot
      • Using two robots for posing
    • Basic animation with the robot
      • Adding keyframes and movement
      • Animating objects
      • Erasing keyframes
    • Distributing the robots
    • Rendering and animating the lights
    • Summary
  • Chapter 16: Post Production of the Robot
    • Using LuxRender for post production
      • Saving and resuming a render
    • Applying lens effects
      • Gaussian Bloom
      • Vignetting
      • C. Aberration
      • Glare
      • HDR Histogram
    • Noise reduction
    • Removing the noise in GIMP
    • Summary

Allan Brito

Allan Brito is a Brazilian architect, specialized in information visualization, who lives and works in Recife, Brazil. He works with Blender 3D to produce animations and still images, for visualization and instructional material. Besides his work with Blender as an artist, he also has wide experience in teaching and researching about 3D modeling, animation, and multimedia.

He is an active member of the community of Blender users, writing about Blender 3D and its development for websites in Brazilian Portuguese (http://www.allanbrito.com ) and English (http://www.Blender3darchitect.com and http://www.Blendernation.com).

To know more about the author, visit the website http://www.Blender3darchitect.com, where he covers the use of Blender and other tools for architectural visualization.

Sample chapters

You can view our sample chapters and prefaces of this title on PacktLib or download sample chapters in PDF format.

Find your book in our support section to find errata and to download code samples.

What you will learn from this book

  • Learn the tools and options to use YafaRay to render your images
  • Arrange a three-point light system, which produces light for renderings where a single object is the main focus of the image
  • Create a steam punk spacecraft with minute detailing and more UV Mapping techniques to add extra realism to the model
  • Use Edge Modeling to create, place, and shape different sections and then connect them together to create a base model
  • Produce cables and wires by using a combination of curves and surfaces
  • Make use of textures to generate shadows and the impression of depth in models
  • Make an object look old by adding dust to its texture
  • Use, set up, and create combustion flares with particles in Blender 3D
  • Set up composite nodes, and create glare and glow effects with them
  • Create a photorealistic space environment for the spacecraft with stars and planets using vertices and Halo materials, and add textures to them
  • Create a curve, and make any type of object use this curve as a path for animation in Blender
  • Construct an amazing robot that can change its shape and transform itself into a military vehicle

Here is a video that shows an example of what the reader will be able to create, in the third project of the book, using Blender 3D to model the entire scene and LuxRender to set up all lights and materials. In LuxRender we will use an incredible feature called Light Groups to control all lights on the scene, with the image still rendering. Notice that we can turn all lights on and off and see the result in real time, and there are many other possible adjustments like the temperature of lights and much more.

Demo video on Light control and adjustments

Special Offers

PacktLib gives you access to this and 600+ other titles with an annual or monthly subscription.

Annual subscription:

$220.00 per annum

Monthly subscription:

$21.99 per month

Buy 2 eBooks
and Get 50% Off
+
Buy Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines with Blender 3D 2.49 Architecture, Buildings, and Scenery and get 50% off both the eBooks.
Just add both the eBooks to your shopping cart and enter b3dimab in the 'Enter Promotion Code' field. Click 'Add Promotion Code' and the discount will be applied.
View Best Selling eBook offers

In Detail

Blender 3D provides all the features you need to create super-realistic 3D models of machines for use in artwork, movies, and computer games. Blender 3D 2.49 Incredible Machines gives you step-by-step instructions for building weapons, vehicles, robots, and more.

This book will show you how to use Blender 3D for mechanical modeling and product visualization. Through the pages of the book, you will find a step-by-step guide to create three different projects: a fantasy weapon, a spacecraft, and a giant robot. Even though these machines are not realistic, you will be able to build your own sensible and incredible machines with the techniques that you will learn in this book along with the exercises and examples.

All the three sections of this book, which cover three projects, are planned to have an increasing learning curve. The first project is about a hand weapon, and with that we can image a small-sized object with tiny details. This first part of the book will show you how to deal with these details and model them in Blender 3D.

In the second project, we will create a spacecraft, adding a bit of scale to the project, and new materials and textures as well. With this project, we will be working with metal, glass, and other elements that make the spacecraft. Along with the object, a new space environment will be created in the book too.

At the end we have a big and complex object, which is the transforming robot. This last part of the book will cover the modeling of two objects and show how you can make one transform into the other. The scale and number of objects in this project are quite big, but the same principles as in the other projects are applied here with a step-by-step guide on how to go through the workflow of the project.

A practical guide on how to model, texture, and render incredible machines like robots, vehicles, and guns.

Approach

This book presents practical tutorials and focuses on fun projects. It contains a lot of serious training material, but is presented in a fun and entertaining way.

Who this book is for

This book targets game designers/developers, artists, and product designers who want to create realistic images, 3D models, and videos of machines. You are expected to have experience with basic Blender operation, as the book is not a 'getting started' tutorial.

Are there no books available that are right for you at the moment? How about signing up to our newsletter to keep up to date?
Awards Voting Nominations Previous Winners
Judges Open Source CMS Hall Of Fame CMS Most Promising Open Source Project Open Source E-Commerce Applications Open Source JavaScript Library Open Source Graphics Software
Resources
Open Source CMS Hall Of Fame CMS Most Promising Open Source Project Open Source E-Commerce Applications Open Source JavaScript Library Open Source Graphics Software
Sort A-Z